Signaling for uplink beam activation

ABSTRACT

A configuration to configure a UE to activate a subset of configured UL-TCI states. The apparatus receives a configuration of UL-TCI states and an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCI states. The apparatus receives DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an UL transmission with one or more TCI states of activated TCI states. The apparatus transmits the UL transmission based on the one or more TCI states.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION(S)

This application claims the benefit of U.S. Provisional Application Ser.No. 62/953,173, entitled “Signalling for Uplink Beam Activation” andfiled on Dec. 23, 2019, which is expressly incorporated by referenceherein in its entirety. This application also claims the benefit of U.S.Provisional Application Ser. No. 62/966,928, entitled “Signalling forUplink Beam Activation” and filed on Jan. 28, 2020, which is expresslyincorporated by reference herein in its entirety.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present disclosure relates generally to communication systems, andmore particularly, to a configuration for signaling for uplink beamactivation.

INTRODUCTION

Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide varioustelecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging,and broadcasts. Typical wireless communication systems may employmultiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication withmultiple users by sharing available system resources. Examples of suchmultiple-access technologies include code division multiple access(CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequencydivision multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency divisionmultiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency divisionmultiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous codedivision multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.

These multiple access technologies have been adopted in varioustelecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enablesdifferent wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national,regional, and even global level. An example telecommunication standardis 5G New Radio (NR). 5G NR is part of a continuous mobile broadbandevolution promulgated by Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) tomeet new requirements associated with latency, reliability, security,scalability (e.g., with Internet of Things (IoT)), and otherrequirements. 5G NR includes services associated with enhanced mobilebroadband (eMBB), massive machine type communications (mMTC), andultra-reliable low latency communications (URLLC). Some aspects of 5G NRmay be based on the 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) standard. There existsa need for further improvements in 5G NR technology. These improvementsmay also be applicable to other multi-access technologies and thetelecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary of one or more aspects inorder to provide a basic understanding of such aspects. This summary isnot an extensive overview of all contemplated aspects, and is intendedto neither identify key or critical elements of all aspects nordelineate the scope of any or all aspects. Its sole purpose is topresent some concepts of one or more aspects in a simplified form as aprelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium,and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a device at a UE.The device may be a processor and/or a modem at a UE or the UE itself.The apparatus receives a configuration of uplink (UL) transmissionconfiguration indicator (TCI) (UL-TCI) states and an activation of asubset of configured UL-TCI states. The apparatus receives downlinkcontrol information (DCI) in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)scheduling an UL transmission with one or more TCI states of activatedTCI states. The apparatus transmits the UL transmission based on the oneor more TCI states.

In an aspect of the disclosure, a method, a computer-readable medium,and an apparatus are provided. The apparatus may be a device at a basestation. The device may be a processor and/or a modem at a base stationor the base station itself. The apparatus transmits, to a user equipment(UE), a configuration of uplink (UL) transmission configurationindicator (TCI) (UL-TCI) states and an activation of a subset ofconfigured UL-TCI states. The apparatus transmits, to the UE, downlinkcontrol information (DCI) in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)scheduling an UL transmission with one or more TCI states of activatedTCI states, the DCI scheduling an UL transmission. The apparatusreceives the UL transmission from the UE, the UL transmission beingbased on the one or more TCI states. The apparatus demodulates the ULtransmission based on the one or more TCI states.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the one or moreaspects comprise the features hereinafter fully described andparticularly pointed out in the claims. The following description andthe annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative featuresof the one or more aspects. These features are indicative, however, ofbut a few of the various ways in which the principles of various aspectsmay be employed, and this description is intended to include all suchaspects and their equivalents.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communicationssystem and an access network.

FIG. 2A is a diagram illustrating an example of a first frame, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2B is a diagram illustrating an example of DL channels within asubframe, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2C is a diagram illustrating an example of a second frame, inaccordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2D is a diagram illustrating an example of UL channels within asubframe, in accordance with various aspects of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of a base station and userequipment (UE) in an access network.

FIG. 4 is call flow diagram illustrating signaling for UL beamactivation for a UE.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example TCI states configuration foractivation/deactivation of UL-TCI states.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationfor an example apparatus.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a method of wireless communication.

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating an example of a hardware implementationfor an example apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The detailed description set forth below in connection with the appendeddrawings is intended as a description of various configurations and isnot intended to represent the only configurations in which the conceptsdescribed herein may be practiced. The detailed description includesspecific details for the purpose of providing a thorough understandingof various concepts. However, it will be apparent to those skilled inthe art that these concepts may be practiced without these specificdetails. In some instances, well known structures and components areshown in block diagram form in order to avoid obscuring such concepts.

Several aspects of telecommunication systems will now be presented withreference to various apparatus and methods. These apparatus and methodswill be described in the following detailed description and illustratedin the accompanying drawings by various blocks, components, circuits,processes, algorithms, etc. (collectively referred to as “elements”).These elements may be implemented using electronic hardware, computersoftware, or any combination thereof. Whether such elements areimplemented as hardware or software depends upon the particularapplication and design constraints imposed on the overall system.

By way of example, an element, or any portion of an element, or anycombination of elements may be implemented as a “processing system” thatincludes one or more processors. Examples of processors includemicroprocessors, microcontrollers, graphics processing units (GPUs),central processing units (CPUs), application processors, digital signalprocessors (DSPs), reduced instruction set computing (RISC) processors,systems on a chip (SoC), baseband processors, field programmable gatearrays (FPGAs), programmable logic devices (PLDs), state machines, gatedlogic, discrete hardware circuits, and other suitable hardwareconfigured to perform the various functionality described throughoutthis disclosure. One or more processors in the processing system mayexecute software. Software shall be construed broadly to meaninstructions, instruction sets, code, code segments, program code,programs, subprograms, software components, applications, softwareapplications, software packages, routines, subroutines, objects,executables, threads of execution, procedures, functions, etc., whetherreferred to as software, firmware, middleware, microcode, hardwaredescription language, or otherwise.

Accordingly, in one or more example embodiments, the functions describedmay be implemented in hardware, software, or any combination thereof. Ifimplemented in software, the functions may be stored on or encoded asone or more instructions or code on a computer-readable medium.Computer-readable media includes computer storage media. Storage mediamay be any available media that can be accessed by a computer. By way ofexample, and not limitation, such computer-readable media can comprise arandom-access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an electricallyerasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), optical disk storage, magnetic diskstorage, other magnetic storage devices, combinations of theaforementioned types of computer-readable media, or any other mediumthat can be used to store computer executable code in the form ofinstructions or data structures that can be accessed by a computer.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a wireless communicationssystem and an access network 100. The wireless communications system(also referred to as a wireless wide area network (WWAN)) includes basestations 102, UEs 104, an Evolved Packet Core (EPC) 160, and anothercore network 190 (e.g., a 5G Core (5GC)). The base stations 102 mayinclude macrocells (high power cellular base station) and/or small cells(low power cellular base station). The macrocells include base stations.The small cells include femtocells, picocells, and microcells.

The base stations 102 configured for 4G LTE (collectively referred to asEvolved Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) TerrestrialRadio Access Network (E-UTRAN)) may interface with the EPC 160 throughfirst backhaul links 132 (e.g., S1 interface). The base stations 102configured for 5G NR (collectively referred to as Next Generation RAN(NG-RAN)) may interface with core network 190 through second backhaullinks 184. In addition to other functions, the base stations 102 mayperform one or more of the following functions: transfer of user data,radio channel ciphering and deciphering, integrity protection, headercompression, mobility control functions (e.g., handover, dualconnectivity), inter-cell interference coordination, connection setupand release, load balancing, distribution for non-access stratum (NAS)messages, NAS node selection, synchronization, radio access network(RAN) sharing, multimedia broadcast multicast service (MBMS), subscriberand equipment trace, RAN information management (RIM), paging,positioning, and delivery of warning messages. The base stations 102 maycommunicate directly or indirectly (e.g., through the EPC 160 or corenetwork 190) with each other over third backhaul links 134 (e.g., X2interface). The first backhaul links 132, the second backhaul links 184,and the third backhaul links 134 may be wired or wireless.

The base stations 102 may wirelessly communicate with the UEs 104. Eachof the base stations 102 may provide communication coverage for arespective geographic coverage area 110. There may be overlappinggeographic coverage areas 110. For example, the small cell 102′ may havea coverage area 110′ that overlaps the coverage area 110 of one or moremacro base stations 102. A network that includes both small cell andmacrocells may be known as a heterogeneous network. A heterogeneousnetwork may also include Home Evolved Node Bs (eNBs) (HeNBs), which mayprovide service to a restricted group known as a closed subscriber group(CSG). The communication links 120 between the base stations 102 and theUEs 104 may include uplink (UL) (also referred to as reverse link)transmissions from a UE 104 to a base station 102 and/or downlink (DL)(also referred to as forward link) transmissions from a base station 102to a UE 104. The communication links 120 may use multiple-input andmultiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology, including spatialmultiplexing, beamforming, and/or transmit diversity. The communicationlinks may be through one or more carriers. The base stations 102/UEs 104may use spectrum up to Y MHz (e.g., 5, 10, 15, 20, 100, 400, etc. MHz)bandwidth per carrier allocated in a carrier aggregation of up to atotal of Yx MHz (x component carriers) used for transmission in eachdirection. The carriers may or may not be adjacent to each other.Allocation of carriers may be asymmetric with respect to DL and UL(e.g., more or fewer carriers may be allocated for DL than for UL). Thecomponent carriers may include a primary component carrier and one ormore secondary component carriers. A primary component carrier may bereferred to as a primary cell (PCell) and a secondary component carriermay be referred to as a secondary cell (SCell).

Certain UEs 104 may communicate with each other using device-to-device(D2D) communication link 158. The D2D communication link 158 may use theDL/UL WWAN spectrum. The D2D communication link 158 may use one or moresidelink channels, such as a physical sidelink broadcast channel(PSBCH), a physical sidelink discovery channel (PSDCH), a physicalsidelink shared channel (PSSCH), and a physical sidelink control channel(PSCCH). D2D communication may be through a variety of wireless D2Dcommunications systems, such as for example, WiMedia, Bluetooth, ZigBee,Wi-Fi based on the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers(IEEE) 802.11 standard, LTE, or NR.

The wireless communications system may further include a Wi-Fi accesspoint (AP) 150 in communication with Wi-Fi stations (STAs) 152 viacommunication links 154, e.g., in a 5 GHz unlicensed frequency spectrumor the like. When communicating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, theSTAs 152/AP 150 may perform a clear channel assessment (CCA) prior tocommunicating in order to determine whether the channel is available.

The small cell 102′ may operate in a licensed and/or an unlicensedfrequency spectrum. When operating in an unlicensed frequency spectrum,the small cell 102′ may employ NR and use the same unlicensed frequencyspectrum (e.g., 5 GHz, or the like) as used by the Wi-Fi AP 150. Thesmall cell 102′, employing NR in an unlicensed frequency spectrum, mayboost coverage to and/or increase capacity of the access network.

The electromagnetic spectrum is often subdivided, based onfrequency/wavelength, into various classes, bands, channels, etc. In 5GNR, two initial operating bands have been identified as frequency rangedesignations FR1 (410 MHz-7.125 GHz) and FR2 (24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz). Thefrequencies between FR1 and FR2 are often referred to as mid-bandfrequencies. Although a portion of FR1 is greater than 6 GHz, FR1 isoften referred to (interchangeably) as a “sub-6 GHz” band in variousdocuments and articles. A similar nomenclature issue sometimes occurswith regard to FR2, which is often referred to (interchangeably) as a“millimeter wave” band in documents and articles, despite beingdifferent from the extremely high frequency (EHF) band (30 GHz-300 GHz)which is identified by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU)as a “millimeter wave” band.

With the above aspects in mind, unless specifically stated otherwise, itshould be understood that the term “sub-6 GHz” or the like if usedherein may broadly represent frequencies that may be less than 6 GHz,may be within FR1, or may include mid-band frequencies. Further, unlessspecifically stated otherwise, it should be understood that the term“millimeter wave” or the like if used herein may broadly representfrequencies that may include mid-band frequencies, may be within FR2, ormay be within the EHF band.

A base station 102, whether a small cell 102′ or a large cell (e.g.,macro base station), may include and/or be referred to as an eNB, gNodeB(gNB), or another type of base station. Some base stations, such as gNB180 may operate in a traditional sub 6 GHz spectrum, in millimeter wavefrequencies, and/or near millimeter wave frequencies in communicationwith the UE 104. When the gNB 180 operates in millimeter wave or nearmillimeter wave frequencies, the gNB 180 may be referred to as amillimeter wave base station. The millimeter wave base station 180 mayutilize beamforming 182 with the UE 104 to compensate for the path lossand short range. The base station 180 and the UE 104 may each include aplurality of antennas, such as antenna elements, antenna panels, and/orantenna arrays to facilitate the beamforming.

The base station 180 may transmit a beamformed signal to the UE 104 inone or more transmit directions 182′. The UE 104 may receive thebeamformed signal from the base station 180 in one or more receivedirections 182″. The UE 104 may also transmit a beamformed signal to thebase station 180 in one or more transmit directions. The base station180 may receive the beamformed signal from the UE 104 in one or morereceive directions. The base station 180/UE 104 may perform beamtraining to determine the best receive and transmit directions for eachof the base station 180/UE 104. The transmit and receive directions forthe base station 180 may or may not be the same. The transmit andreceive directions for the UE 104 may or may not be the same.

The EPC 160 may include a Mobility Management Entity (MME) 162, otherMMES 164, a Serving Gateway 166, a Multimedia Broadcast MulticastService (MBMS) Gateway 168, a Broadcast Multicast Service Center (BM-SC)170, and a Packet Data Network (PDN) Gateway 172. The MME 162 may be incommunication with a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) 174. The MME 162 isthe control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 andthe EPC 160. Generally, the MME 162 provides bearer and connectionmanagement. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets are transferredthrough the Serving Gateway 166, which itself is connected to the PDNGateway 172. The PDN Gateway 172 provides UE IP address allocation aswell as other functions. The PDN Gateway 172 and the BM-SC 170 areconnected to the IP Services 176. The IP Services 176 may include theInternet, an intranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a PS StreamingService, and/or other IP services. The BM-SC 170 may provide functionsfor MBMS user service provisioning and delivery. The BM-SC 170 may serveas an entry point for content provider MBMS transmission, may be used toauthorize and initiate MBMS Bearer Services within a public land mobilenetwork (PLMN), and may be used to schedule MBMS transmissions. The MBMSGateway 168 may be used to distribute MBMS traffic to the base stations102 belonging to a Multicast Broadcast Single Frequency Network (MBSFN)area broadcasting a particular service, and may be responsible forsession management (start/stop) and for collecting eMBMS relatedcharging information.

The core network 190 may include a Access and Mobility ManagementFunction (AMF) 192, other AMFs 193, a Session Management Function (SMF)194, and a User Plane Function (UPF) 195. The AMF 192 may be incommunication with a Unified Data Management (UDM) 196. The AMF 192 isthe control node that processes the signaling between the UEs 104 andthe core network 190. Generally, the AMF 192 provides QoS flow andsession management. All user Internet protocol (IP) packets aretransferred through the UPF 195. The UPF 195 provides UE IP addressallocation as well as other functions. The UPF 195 is connected to theIP Services 197. The IP Services 197 may include the Internet, anintranet, an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS), a Packet Switch (PS)Streaming (PSS) Service, and/or other IP services.

The base station may include and/or be referred to as a gNB, Node B,eNB, an access point, a base transceiver station, a radio base station,a radio transceiver, a transceiver function, a basic service set (BSS),an extended service set (ESS), a transmit reception point (TRP), or someother suitable terminology. The base station 102 provides an accesspoint to the EPC 160 or core network 190 for a UE 104. Examples of UEs104 include a cellular phone, a smart phone, a session initiationprotocol (SIP) phone, a laptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), asatellite radio, a global positioning system, a multimedia device, avideo device, a digital audio player (e.g., MP3 player), a camera, agame console, a tablet, a smart device, a wearable device, a vehicle, anelectric meter, a gas pump, a large or small kitchen appliance, ahealthcare device, an implant, a sensor/actuator, a display, or anyother similar functioning device. Some of the UEs 104 may be referred toas IoT devices (e.g., parking meter, gas pump, toaster, vehicles, heartmonitor, etc.). The UE 104 may also be referred to as a station, amobile station, a subscriber station, a mobile unit, a subscriber unit,a wireless unit, a remote unit, a mobile device, a wireless device, awireless communications device, a remote device, a mobile subscriberstation, an access terminal, a mobile terminal, a wireless terminal, aremote terminal, a handset, a user agent, a mobile client, a client, orsome other suitable terminology.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in certain aspects, the UE 104 may beconfigured to activate a subset of configured UL-TCI states. Forexample, the UE 104 may include a signaling component 198 that includesan UL beam activation component 199. The UE 104 receives a configurationof UL-TCI states and an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCIstates. The UE 104 receives DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an UL transmissionwith one or more TCI states of activated TCI states. The UE 104transmits the UL transmission based on the one or more TCI states.

Referring again to FIG. 1, in certain aspects, the base station 180 maybe configured to configure the UE 104 to activate a subset of configuredUL-TCI states. For example, the base station 180 may include a signalingcomponent 198 that includes a UL beam activation component 199. The basestation 180 transmits, to the UE 104, a configuration of UL-TCI statesand an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCI states. The basestation 180 transmits, to the UE 104, DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an ULtransmission with one or more TCI states of activated TCI states, theDCI scheduling an UL transmission. The base station 180 receives the ULtransmission from the UE 104, the UL transmission being based on the oneor more TCI states. The base station 180 demodulates the UL transmissionbased on the one or more TCI states.

Although the following description may be focused on 5G NR, the conceptsdescribed herein may be applicable to other similar areas, such as LTE,LTE-A, CDMA, GSM, and other wireless technologies.

FIG. 2A is a diagram 200 illustrating an example of a first subframewithin a 5G NR frame structure. FIG. 2B is a diagram 230 illustrating anexample of DL channels within a 5G NR subframe. FIG. 2C is a diagram 250illustrating an example of a second subframe within a 5G NR framestructure. FIG. 2D is a diagram 280 illustrating an example of ULchannels within a 5G NR subframe. The 5G NR frame structure may befrequency division duplexed (FDD) in which for a particular set ofsubcarriers (carrier system bandwidth), subframes within the set ofsubcarriers are dedicated for either DL or UL, or may be time divisionduplexed (TDD) in which for a particular set of subcarriers (carriersystem bandwidth), subframes within the set of subcarriers are dedicatedfor both DL and UL. In the examples provided by FIGS. 2A, 2C, the 5G NRframe structure is assumed to be TDD, with subframe 4 being configuredwith slot format 28 (with mostly DL), where D is DL, U is UL, and F isflexible for use between DL/UL, and subframe 3 being configured withslot format 1 (with all UL). While subframes 3, 4 are shown with slotformats 1, 28, respectively, any particular subframe may be configuredwith any of the various available slot formats 0-61. Slot formats 0, 1are all DL, UL, respectively. Other slot formats 2-61 include a mix ofDL, UL, and flexible symbols. UEs are configured with the slot format(dynamically through DCI, or semi-statically/statically through radioresource control (RRC) signaling) through a received slot formatindicator (SFI). Note that the description infra applies also to a 5G NRframe structure that is TDD.

Other wireless communication technologies may have a different framestructure and/or different channels. A frame (10 ms) may be divided into10 equally sized subframes (1 ms). Each subframe may include one or moretime slots. Subframes may also include mini-slots, which may include 7,4, or 2 symbols. Each slot may include 7 or 14 symbols, depending on theslot configuration. For slot configuration 0, each slot may include 14symbols, and for slot configuration 1, each slot may include 7 symbols.The symbols on DL may be cyclic prefix (CP) orthogonal frequencydivision multiplexing (OFDM) (CP-OFDM) symbols. The symbols on UL may beCP-OFDM symbols (for high throughput scenarios) or discrete Fouriertransform (DFT) spread OFDM (DFT-s-OFDM) symbols (also referred to assingle carrier frequency-division multiple access (SC-FDMA) symbols)(for power limited scenarios; limited to a single stream transmission).The number of slots within a subframe is based on the slot configurationand the numerology. For slot configuration 0, different numerologies μ 0to 4 allow for 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16 slots, respectively, per subframe. Forslot configuration 1, different numerologies 0 to 2 allow for 2, 4, and8 slots, respectively, per subframe. Accordingly, for slot configuration0 and numerology μ, there are 14 symbols/slot and 2^(μ) slots/subframe.The subcarrier spacing and symbol length/duration are a function of thenumerology. The subcarrier spacing may be equal to 2^(μ)*15 kHz, where μis the numerology 0 to 4. As such, the numerology μ=0 has a subcarrierspacing of 15 kHz and the numerology μ=4 has a subcarrier spacing of 240kHz. The symbol length/duration is inversely related to the subcarrierspacing. FIGS. 2A-2D provide an example of slot configuration 0 with 14symbols per slot and numerology μ=2 with 4 slots per subframe. The slotduration is 0.25 ms, the subcarrier spacing is 60 kHz, and the symbolduration is approximately 16.67 μs. Within a set of frames, there may beone or more different bandwidth parts (BWPs) (see FIG. 2B) that arefrequency division multiplexed. Each BWP may have a particularnumerology.

A resource grid may be used to represent the frame structure. Each timeslot includes a resource block (RB) (also referred to as physical RBs(PRBs)) that extends 12 consecutive subcarriers. The resource grid isdivided into multiple resource elements (REs). The number of bitscarried by each RE depends on the modulation scheme.

As illustrated in FIG. 2A, some of the REs carry reference (pilot)signals (RS) for the UE. The RS may include demodulation RS (DM-RS)(indicated as R for one particular configuration, but other DM-RSconfigurations are possible) and channel state information referencesignals (CSI-RS) for channel estimation at the UE. The RS may alsoinclude beam measurement RS (BRS), beam refinement RS (BRRS), and phasetracking RS (PT-RS).

FIG. 2B illustrates an example of various DL channels within a subframeof a frame. The PDCCH carries DCI within one or more control channelelements (CCEs) (e.g., 1, 2, 4, 8, or 16 CCEs), each CCE including sixRE groups (REGs), each REG including 12 consecutive REs in an OFDMsymbol of an RB. A PDCCH within one BWP may be referred to as a controlresource set (CORESET). A UE is configured to monitor PDCCH candidatesin a PDCCH search space (e.g., common search space, UE-specific searchspace) during PDCCH monitoring occasions on the CORESET, where the PDCCHcandidates have different DCI formats and different aggregation levels.Additional BWPs may be located at greater and/or lower frequenciesacross the channel bandwidth. A primary synchronization signal (PSS) maybe within symbol 2 of particular subframes of a frame. The PSS is usedby a UE 104 to determine subframe/symbol timing and a physical layeridentity. A secondary synchronization signal (SSS) may be within symbol4 of particular subframes of a frame. The SSS is used by a UE todetermine a physical layer cell identity group number and radio frametiming. Based on the physical layer identity and the physical layer cellidentity group number, the UE can determine a physical cell identifier(PCI). Based on the PCI, the UE can determine the locations of theaforementioned DM-RS. The physical broadcast channel (PBCH), whichcarries a master information block (MIB), may be logically grouped withthe PSS and SSS to form a synchronization signal (SS)/PBCH block (alsoreferred to as SS block (SSB)). The MIB provides a number of RBs in thesystem bandwidth and a system frame number (SFN). The physical downlinkshared channel (PDSCH) carries user data, broadcast system informationnot transmitted through the PBCH such as system information blocks(SIBs), and paging messages.

As illustrated in FIG. 2C, some of the REs carry DM-RS (indicated as Rfor one particular configuration, but other DM-RS configurations arepossible) for channel estimation at the base station. The UE maytransmit DM-RS for the physical uplink control channel (PUCCH) and DM-RSfor the physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH). The PUSCH DM-RS may betransmitted in the first one or two symbols of the PUSCH. The PUCCHDM-RS may be transmitted in different configurations depending onwhether short or long PUCCHs are transmitted and depending on theparticular PUCCH format used. The UE may transmit sounding referencesignals (SRS). The SRS may be transmitted in the last symbol of asubframe. The SRS may have a comb structure, and a UE may transmit SRSon one of the combs. The SRS may be used by a base station for channelquality estimation to enable frequency-dependent scheduling on the UL.

FIG. 2D illustrates an example of various UL channels within a subframeof a frame. The PUCCH may be located as indicated in one configuration.The PUCCH carries uplink control information (UCI), such as schedulingrequests, a channel quality indicator (CQI), a precoding matrixindicator (PMI), a rank indicator (RI), and hybrid automatic repeatrequest (HARD) acknowledgment (ACK) (HARQ-ACK) information (ACK/negativeACK (NACK)) feedback. The PUSCH carries data, and may additionally beused to carry a buffer status report (BSR), a power headroom report(PHR), and/or UCI.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a base station 310 in communication with aUE 350 in an access network. In the DL, IP packets from the EPC 160 maybe provided to a controller/processor 375. The controller/processor 375implements layer 3 and layer 2 functionality. Layer 3 includes a radioresource control (RRC) layer, and layer 2 includes a service dataadaptation protocol (SDAP) layer, a packet data convergence protocol(PDCP) layer, a radio link control (RLC) layer, and a medium accesscontrol (MAC) layer. The controller/processor 375 provides RRC layerfunctionality associated with broadcasting of system information (e.g.,MIB, RRC connection control (e.g., RRC connection paging, RRC connectionestablishment, RRC connection modification, and RRC connection release),inter radio access technology (RAT) mobility, and measurementconfiguration for UE measurement reporting; PDCP layer functionalityassociated with header compression/decompression, security (ciphering,deciphering, integrity protection, integrity verification), and handoversupport functions; RLC layer functionality associated with the transferof upper layer packet data units (PDUs), error correction through ARQ,concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC service data units(SDUs), re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC dataPDUs; and MAC layer functionality associated with mapping betweenlogical channels and transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs ontotransport blocks (TBs), demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, schedulinginformation reporting, error correction through HARQ, priority handling,and logical channel prioritization.

The transmit (TX) processor 316 and the receive (RX) processor 370implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signalprocessing functions. Layer 1, which includes a physical (PHY) layer,may include error detection on the transport channels, forward errorcorrection (FEC) coding/decoding of the transport channels,interleaving, rate matching, mapping onto physical channels,modulation/demodulation of physical channels, and MIMO antennaprocessing. The TX processor 316 handles mapping to signalconstellations based on various modulation schemes (e.g., binaryphase-shift keying (BPSK), quadrature phase-shift keying (QPSK),M-phase-shift keying (M-PSK), M-quadrature amplitude modulation(M-QAM)). The coded and modulated symbols may then be split intoparallel streams. Each stream may then be mapped to an OFDM subcarrier,multiplexed with a reference signal (e.g., pilot) in the time and/orfrequency domain, and then combined together using an Inverse FastFourier Transform (IFFT) to produce a physical channel carrying a timedomain OFDM symbol stream. The OFDM stream is spatially precoded toproduce multiple spatial streams. Channel estimates from a channelestimator 374 may be used to determine the coding and modulation scheme,as well as for spatial processing. The channel estimate may be derivedfrom a reference signal and/or channel condition feedback transmitted bythe UE 350. Each spatial stream may then be provided to a differentantenna 320 via a separate transmitter 318 TX. Each transmitter 318 TXmay modulate an RF carrier with a respective spatial stream fortransmission.

At the UE 350, each receiver 354 RX receives a signal through itsrespective antenna 352. Each receiver 354 RX recovers informationmodulated onto an RF carrier and provides the information to the receive(RX) processor 356. The TX processor 368 and the RX processor 356implement layer 1 functionality associated with various signalprocessing functions. The RX processor 356 may perform spatialprocessing on the information to recover any spatial streams destinedfor the UE 350. If multiple spatial streams are destined for the UE 350,they may be combined by the RX processor 356 into a single OFDM symbolstream. The RX processor 356 then converts the OFDM symbol stream fromthe time-domain to the frequency domain using a Fast Fourier Transform(FFT). The frequency domain signal comprises a separate OFDM symbolstream for each subcarrier of the OFDM signal. The symbols on eachsubcarrier, and the reference signal, are recovered and demodulated bydetermining the most likely signal constellation points transmitted bythe base station 310. These soft decisions may be based on channelestimates computed by the channel estimator 358. The soft decisions arethen decoded and deinterleaved to recover the data and control signalsthat were originally transmitted by the base station 310 on the physicalchannel. The data and control signals are then provided to thecontroller/processor 359, which implements layer 3 and layer 2functionality.

The controller/processor 359 can be associated with a memory 360 thatstores program codes and data. The memory 360 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 359provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, and control signalprocessing to recover IP packets from the EPC 160. Thecontroller/processor 359 is also responsible for error detection usingan ACK and/or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

Similar to the functionality described in connection with the DLtransmission by the base station 310, the controller/processor 359provides RRC layer functionality associated with system information(e.g., MIB, SIBs) acquisition, RRC connections, and measurementreporting; PDCP layer functionality associated with headercompression/decompression, and security (ciphering, deciphering,integrity protection, integrity verification); RLC layer functionalityassociated with the transfer of upper layer PDUs, error correctionthrough ARQ, concatenation, segmentation, and reassembly of RLC SDUs,re-segmentation of RLC data PDUs, and reordering of RLC data PDUs; andMAC layer functionality associated with mapping between logical channelsand transport channels, multiplexing of MAC SDUs onto TBs,demultiplexing of MAC SDUs from TBs, scheduling information reporting,error correction through HARQ, priority handling, and logical channelprioritization.

Channel estimates derived by a channel estimator 358 from a referencesignal or feedback transmitted by the base station 310 may be used bythe TX processor 368 to select the appropriate coding and modulationschemes, and to facilitate spatial processing. The spatial streamsgenerated by the TX processor 368 may be provided to different antenna352 via separate transmitters 354TX. Each transmitter 354TX may modulatean RF carrier with a respective spatial stream for transmission.

The UL transmission is processed at the base station 310 in a mannersimilar to that described in connection with the receiver function atthe UE 350. Each receiver 318RX receives a signal through its respectiveantenna 320. Each receiver 318RX recovers information modulated onto anRF carrier and provides the information to a RX processor 370.

The controller/processor 375 can be associated with a memory 376 thatstores program codes and data. The memory 376 may be referred to as acomputer-readable medium. In the UL, the controller/processor 375provides demultiplexing between transport and logical channels, packetreassembly, deciphering, header decompression, control signal processingto recover IP packets from the UE 350. IP packets from thecontroller/processor 375 may be provided to the EPC 160. Thecontroller/processor 375 is also responsible for error detection usingan ACK and/or NACK protocol to support HARQ operations.

At least one of the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356, and thecontroller/processor 359 may be configured to perform aspects inconnection with 198 of FIG. 1.

At least one of the TX processor 316, the RX processor 370, and thecontroller/processor 375 may be configured to perform aspects inconnection with 198 of FIG. 1.

A unified TCI framework for UL and DL is desirable for supportingmulti-TRP in NR 5G. TCI framework may specify beams to be used forcommunication. In wireless communication systems (e.g., NR 5G),directional transmission is desired and for effective channelpropagation a signal may be utilized for decoding a channel on whichtransmission occurs. For UL, spatial relation information through RRCmay specify a beam on which transmission is occurring but may notspecify quasi-co located (QCL) properties. Also, in absence of UL-TCI,signaling mechanism to a UE may be limited to spatial relationinformation through RRC.

A UL-TCI may be used to indicate or enable which UL states to use for aUL transmission and the UL-TCI may be used to specify QCL relations foruplink transmissions. Two antenna ports may have a QCL relationship ifproperties of the channel over which a symbol on one antenna port isconveyed can be inferred from the channel over which a symbol on theother antenna port is conveyed. A set of two QCL antenna ports may havea common set of QCL relations (referred to as the same spatial filter),such as one or more of Doppler shift, Doppler spread, average delay,delay spread, or a spatial Rx parameter. One or more of the UEs/BS mayutilize the QCL relations of a pair of beams to infer information fromone beam to another. For DL TCI, the UE may be configured with up to 64candidate TCI states, for example, where a first subset may beassociated with a control resource set (CORESET) of the PDCCH and asecond subset may be associated with the PDSCH. When a default beam forSRS/PUCCH is not configured, the UE may determine a spatial relation(default beam) for transmitting the SRS/PUCCH based on TCI stateinformation. At least for the UE that supports beam correspondence, ifspatial relation information is not configured for a dedicated SRS/PUCCHtransmission, the UE may determine a default spatial relation for thededicated SRS/PUCCH transmission.

A DL TCI activation framework may be based on DCI/MAC-CE. For a unifiedUL-DL framework, such a mechanism may be extended for UL-TCI states aswell, where each UL-TCI contains a source RS to indicate an UL transmit(Tx) beam for a target UL RS/channel. The source RS can be an SRS, aSynchronization Signal Block (SSB), CSI-RS, etc. The target ULRS/channel can be PUCCH, SRS, physical random access channel (PRACH), orPUSCH. The below table represents an example of UL-TCI states.

Valid UL-TCI state Source (reference) (target) Configuration RS UL RS[qcl-Type] 1 SRS resource (for DM-RS for Spatial-relation BM) + [panelID] PUCCH or SRS or PRACH 2 DL RS(a CSI-RS DM-RS for Spatial-relationresource or a SSB) + PUCCH [panel ID] or SRS or PRACH 3 DL RS(a CSI-RSDM-RS for Spatial-relation + resource or a SSB) + PUSCH[port(s)-indication] [panel ID] 4 DL RS(a CSI-RS DM-RS forSpatial-relation + resource or a SSB) PUSCH [port(s)-indication] and SRSresource + [panel ID] 5 SRS resource + DM-RS for Spatial-relation +[panel ID] PUSCH [port(s)-indication] 6 UL RS(a SRS for DM-RS forSpatial-relation + BM) and SRS PUSCH [port(s)-indication] resource +[panel ID]

FIG. 4 is a call flow diagram 400 of signaling between a UE 402 and abase station 404. The base station 404 may be configured to provide atleast one cell. The UE 402 may be configured to communicate with thebase station 404. For example, in the context of FIG. 1, the basestation 404 may correspond to base station 102/180 and, accordingly, thecell may include a geographic coverage area 110 in which communicationcoverage is provided and/or small cell 102′ having a coverage area 110′.Further, a UE 402 may correspond to at least UE 104. In another example,in the context of FIG. 3, the base station 404 may correspond to basestation 310 and the UE 402 may correspond to UE 350.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a UE 402 receives, from a base station 404 anRRC signal 405 that configures one or more UL-TCI states. The UE 402also receives, from the base station 404, a medium access control (MAC)control element (CE) (MAC-CE) with an activation configuration 406 thatactivates a subset of the configured UL-TCI states (i.e., the UL-TCIstates configured by the RRC signal 405). For example, the UE 402 mayreceive an activation configuration 406 (for example, the activationconfiguration 500 as described below with reference to FIG. 5). Theactivation configuration 406 may include a TCI state identifier(s) of anUL-TCI state(s) to be activated for an UL transmission. For example, theUL-TCI state(s) may be initially deactivated and upon receiving theactivation configuration the UE 402 may activate the specified UL-TCIstate(s).

In addition, the UE 402 receives, from the base station 404, DCI 408 ina PDCCH scheduling an UL transmission. The DCI 408 may schedule an ULtransmission with one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states.The DCI 408 schedules a transmission of at least one of SRS, a PUCCH, aPUSCH, or a PRACH. For example, the DCI 408 may schedule a transmissionof an SRS based on the one or more TCI states of the activated TCIstates. The DCI 408 may include one or more codepoint values indicatingthe one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states. The codepointvalues may represent a bitmap to indicate one or more activated TCIstates. For example, the DCI 408 may be resource constrained in terms ofthe number of bits that can be included in the DCI 408. Therefore,instead of including a bit sequence to specify the one or more TCIstates, the DCI 408 may include a coded sequence (e.g., a codepointvalue to specify the one or more TCI states as described below withreference to FIG. 5). The codepoint value may be within the set of oneor more codepoint values indicating the one or more TCI states. In oneconfiguration, the codepoint value may be specified using three bits(for example to indicate one of codepoint 0, codepoint 1, . . .codepoint 7 as described below with reference to FIG. 5). In oneconfiguration, the UE 402 may have a mapping between the one or moreactivated TCI states and a set of codepoint values. In anotherconfiguration, the UE 402 may separately receive the mapping between theone or more activated TCI states and a set of codepoint values from thebase station 404.

The UE 402 may transmit, to the base station 404, the at least one ofthe SRS, the PUCCH, the PUSCH, or the PRACH 410 based on the one or moreTCI states of the subset of activated TCI states. For example, the UE402 may transmit at least one of the SRS, the PUCCH, the PUSCH, or thePRACH 410 (i.e., a UL transmission 410) based on one or more of the TCIstates of the activated TCI states indicated by the DCI 408. Further,the UE 402 may transmit the UL transmission 410 transmission with a sameQCL property as that of a reference signal associated with each of theTCI states for the UL transmission 410. For example, the QCL propertymay include one or more port indications, a Doppler shift, a Dopplerspread, an average delay, a delay spread, a spatial Tx parameter, or aspatial receive (Rx) parameter. In one configuration, the referencesignal may be one of SRS, or a DL reference signal (RS). Further, thereference signal may be associated with a panel identifier (ID) of theUE 402 or a panel ID of the base station 404. For example, a panel IDmay refer to an identifier for an antenna element(s) or portdefinition(s). In one configuration, the DL RS may be one of channelstate information (CSI) RS (CSI-RS) or demodulation RS (DM-RS) for atleast one of a PDSCH or a PDCCH, or a synchronization signal/physicalbroadcast channel (PBCH) (SS/PBCH) block. On receiving the ULtransmission 410, at 412, the BS 404 may demodulate the received ULtransmission based on the one or more TCI states of the subset ofactivated TCI states.

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating an example TCI states activationconfiguration 500 for activation/deactivation of UL-TCI states. Forexample, the TCI states activation configuration 500 may be similar tothe activation configuration 406 received through the MAC-CE (asdescribed above with reference to FIG. 4). The TCI states activationconfiguration 500 may include Oct 1, Oct 2, Oct 3, . . . , Oct N blocks.The Oct blocks may include one or more bits that correspond to TCIstates to be activated (as described above with reference to FIG. 4) fora PDSCH of a serving cell for UE-specific PDSCH MAC-CE. For example, Oct1 may define the format (bit locations and length of sub-blocks) of theblocks. Oct 2, Oct 3, . . . Oct N may include a serving cell ID (e.g.,with a length of 5 bits), a Bandwidth Part ID (BWP ID) (e.g., with alength of 2 bits), and a reserve bit (R). Oct 2 may include bits T₀-T₇and Oct 3 may include bits T₈-T₁₅. Similarly, Oct N may include bitsT_((N-2)×8) T_((N-2)×8+7). The list (a subset) of TCI statesactivated/deactivated in the TCI state activation configuration 500 maybe configured by the bitmap represented by bits T₀-T_((N-2)×8). Forexample, if a bit in a specific location is set to be ‘1’, it means thatit activates a TCI state mapped to the position of the bit. For example,if the bit is set to be ‘0’, it means that it deactivates a TCI statemapped to the position of the bit. For example, if T4=1, it activatesthe index 4. The list of bit position that are set to be ‘1’ is assignedto a small table called codepoint and the max size of the codepoint maybe 8. It means that up to 8 bit fields in a MAC-CE can be set to be ‘1’.The position of ‘1’ bits are assigned to codepoint in an increasingorder. For example, if the fields T4, T10, T11, T19, T25, T40, T45 andT50 are set to be ‘1’ and all other bits are set to be ‘0’, then thecodepoint may set to be as follows:

codepoint 0=4

codepoint 1=10

codepoint 2=11

codepoint 3=19

codepoint 4=25

codepoint 5=40

codepoint 6=45

codepoint 7=50

In one configuration, TCI states in a DCI may be indicated using acodepoint value.

For example, the DCI 408 (as described above with reference to FIG. 4)may include a codepoint value (e.g., 0 for codepoint 0, 1 for codepoint1, etc.) to indicate TCI states for the UL transmission 410. Asdescribed above in FIG. 4, the DCI 408 may include 3 bits to specify thecodepoint value (codepoint 0, codepoint 1 . . . codepoint 7).

Activated UL-TCI states may be sequentially mapped to the UL-TCIcodepoint in a scheduling DCI (e.g., the DCI 408 as described above withreference to FIG. 4). Each of the UL-TCI states (T₀-T_((N-2)×8)) maycontain a source RS to indicate UL Tx beam for a target UL RS/channel.The unified TCI framework allows enhancement on multi-beam operation,for targeting FR2 (Frequency Range 24.25 GHz-52.6 GHz), and may also beused for FR1 (Frequency Range <7.225 GHz).

FIG. 6 is a flowchart 600 of a method of wireless communication. Themethod may be performed by a UE or a component of a UE (e.g., the UE104; the apparatus 702; the cellular baseband processor 704, which mayinclude the memory 360 and which may be the entire UE 350 or a componentof the UE 350, such as the TX processor 368, the RX processor 356,and/or the controller/processor 359). One or more of the illustratedoperations may be omitted, transposed, or contemporaneous. Optionalaspects are illustrated with a dashed line. The method may allow a UE toactivate a subset of configured UL-TCI states.

At 602, the UE receives a configuration of UL-TCI states. For example,602 may be performed by configuration component 740 of apparatus 702. Insome aspects, the UE may receive the configuration of UL-TCI states inan RS. The UE may also receive an activation configuration activating asubset of configured UL-TCI states. In some aspects, the UE receives theactivation configuration through a MAC-CE. For example, referring toFIGS. 4, 5, the UE 402 may receive the activation configuration 406, 500activating a subset of configured UL-TCI states through a MAC-CE fromthe base station 404.

At 604, the UE receives DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an UL transmissionwith one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states. For example,604 may be performed by schedule component 742 of apparatus 702. The DCIschedules a transmission of at least one of SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or aPRACH. For example, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the UE 402 may receivethe DCI 408 with one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states forscheduling the UL transmission 410. For example, as described above inFIG. 4, the UL transmission 410 may be at least one of SRS, a PUCCH, aPUSCH, or a PRACH. In some aspects, the DCI includes one or morecodepoint values indicating the one or more TCI states of the activatedTCI states. For example, as described above with reference to FIGS. 4and 5, the DCI 408 may include a codepoint value to indicate the one ormore TCI states of the activated TCI states.

In some aspects, for example at 606, the UE receives a mapping betweenactivated TCI states and a set of codepoint values. For example, 606 maybe performed by map component 744 of apparatus 702. The one or morecodepoint values may be within the set of codepoint values.

At 608, the UE transmits the UL transmission based on the one or moreTCI states. For example, 608 may be performed by uplink component 746 ofapparatus 702. For example, as described above with reference to FIGS. 4and 5, the UE 402 may transmit the UL transmission 410 based on the oneor more TCI states indicated by the DCI 408. In some aspects, the ULtransmission is at least one of SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or a PRACH. Insome aspects, the UE may transmit the UL transmission with a QCLproperty that is the same or similar as a reference signal associatedwith the one TCI state. For example, as described above with referenceto FIGS. 4 and 5, the UE 402 may transmit the UL transmission 410 withthe same QCL property as that of a reference signal associated with eachof the TCI states (i.e., the one or more TCI states for the ULtransmission 410 indicated by the DCI 408). In some aspects, thereference signal is associated with a panel identifier (ID) of the UE.In some aspects, the QCL property includes at least one of a one or moreport indications, a Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, an average delay, adelay spread, a spatial Tx parameter, or a spatial Rx parameter. In someaspects, the reference signal is one of SRS, or a DL RS. In someaspects, the DL RS is one of CSI-RS, DM-RS for at least one of a PDSCHor PDCCH, or a SS/PBCH block.

FIG. 7 is a diagram 700 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 702. The apparatus 702 is a UE andincludes a cellular baseband processor 704 (also referred to as a modem)coupled to a cellular RF transceiver 722 and one or more subscriberidentity modules (SIM) cards 720, an application processor 706 coupledto a secure digital (SD) card 708 and a screen 710, a Bluetooth module712, a wireless local area network (WLAN) module 714, a GlobalPositioning System (GPS) module 716, and a power supply 718. Thecellular baseband processor 704 communicates through the cellular RFtransceiver 722 with the UE 104 and/or BS 102/180. The cellular basebandprocessor 704 may include a computer-readable medium/memory. Thecomputer-readable medium/memory may be non-transitory. The cellularbaseband processor 704 is responsible for general processing, includingthe execution of software stored on the computer-readable medium/memory.The software, when executed by the cellular baseband processor 704,causes the cellular baseband processor 704 to perform the variousfunctions described supra. The computer-readable medium/memory may alsobe used for storing data that is manipulated by the cellular basebandprocessor 704 when executing software. The cellular baseband processor704 further includes a reception component 730, a communication manager732, and a transmission component 734. The communication manager 732includes the one or more illustrated components. The components withinthe communication manager 732 may be stored in the computer-readablemedium/memory and/or configured as hardware within the cellular basebandprocessor 704. The cellular baseband processor 704 may be a component ofthe UE 350 and may include the memory 360 and/or at least one of the TXprocessor 368, the RX processor 356, and the controller/processor 359.In one configuration, the apparatus 702 may be a modem chip and includejust the cellular baseband processor 704, and in another configuration,the apparatus 702 may be the entire UE (e.g., see 350 of FIG. 3) andinclude the aforediscussed additional modules of the apparatus 702.

The communication manager 732 includes a configuration component 740that is configured to receive a configuration of UL-TCI states, e.g., asdescribed in connection with 602 of FIG. 6. The communication manager732 further includes a schedule component 742 that is configured toreceive DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an UL transmission with one or moreTCI states of the activated TCI states, e.g., as described in connectionwith 604 of FIG. 6. The communication manager 732 further includes a mapcomponent 744 that is configured to receive a mapping between activatedTCI states and a set of codepoint values, e.g., as described inconnection with 606 of FIG. 6. The communication manager 732 furtherincludes an uplink component 746 that is configured to transmit the ULtransmission based on the one or more TCI states, e.g., as described inconnection with 608 of FIG. 6

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 6. Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 6 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus 702, and in particular the cellularbaseband processor 704, includes means for receiving a configuration ofUL-TCI states and an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCI states.The apparatus includes means for receiving DCI in a PDCCH scheduling anUL transmission with one or more TCI states of activated TCI states. Theapparatus includes means for transmitting the UL transmission based onthe one or more TCI states. The apparatus further includes means forreceiving a mapping between activated TCI states and a set of codepointvalues, the one or more codepoint values being within the set ofcodepoint values. The aforementioned means may be one or more of theaforementioned components of the apparatus 702 configured to perform thefunctions recited by the aforementioned means. As described supra, theapparatus 702 may include the TX Processor 368, the RX Processor 356,and the controller/processor 359. As such, in one configuration, theaforementioned means may be the TX Processor 368, the RX Processor 356,and the controller/processor 359 configured to perform the functionsrecited by the aforementioned means.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart 800 of a method of wireless communication. Themethod may be performed by a base station or a component of a basestation (e.g., the base station 102/180; the apparatus 902; the basebandunit 904, which may include the memory 376 and which may be the entirebase station 310 or a component of the base station 310, such as the TXprocessor 316, the RX processor 370, and/or the controller/processor375). One or more of the illustrated operations may be omitted,transposed, or contemporaneous. Optional aspects are illustrated with adashed line. The method may allow a base station to configure a UE toactivate a subset of configured UL-TCI states.

At 802, the base station transmits to a UE, an activation configurationactivating a subset of configured UL-TCI states. For example, 802 may beperformed by configuration component 940 of apparatus 902. For example,as described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the BS 404 may transmit tothe UE 402, the activation configuration 406/500. The BS may alsotransmit to the UE an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCIstates. For example, with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the UE maytransmit the activation configuration 406, 500 activating a subset ofconfigured UL-TCI states through a MAC-CE, to the UE 402. In someaspects, the configuration of UL-TCI states and the activation of thesubset of configured UL-TCI states may be received through an RRC signaland a MAC-CE, respectively.

At 804, the base station transmits, to the UE, DCI in a PDCCH schedulingan UL transmission with one or more TCI states of the activated TCIstates. For example, 804 may be performed by schedule component 942 ofapparatus 902. The DCI may schedule an UL transmission. The DCIschedules a transmission of at least one of SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or aPRACH. For example, referring to FIGS. 4 and 5, the BS 404 may transmitthe DCI 408 with one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states forscheduling the UL transmission 410 to the UE 402. For example, asdescribed above in FIG. 4, the UL transmission 410 may be at least oneof SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or a PRACH. In some aspects, the DCI mayinclude one or more codepoint values indicating the one or more TCIstates of the activated TCI states. For example, as described above withreference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the DCI 408 may include a codepoint value toindicate the one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states.

In some aspects, for example at 806, the base station transmits amapping between activated TCI states and a set of codepoint values. Forexample, 806 may be performed by map component 944 of apparatus 902. Theone or more codepoint values may be within the set of codepoint values.

At 808, the base station receives the UL transmission from the UE. Forexample, 808 may be performed by uplink component 946 of apparatus 902.The UL transmission may be based on the one or more TCI states. Forexample, as described above with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5, the BS 404may receive the UL transmission 410 based on the one or more TCI statesindicated by the DCI 408. In some aspects, the UL transmission may be atleast one of SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or a PRACH. In some aspects, the ULtransmission is associated with a QCL property that is the same orsimilar as a reference signal associated with one TCI state (e.g., theone or more TCI states for the UL transmission 410 indicated by the DCI408). In some aspects, the reference signal may be associated with apanel ID of the UE. In some aspects, the QCL property includes at leastone of a one or more port indications, a Doppler shift, a Dopplerspread, an average delay, a delay spread, a spatial Tx parameter, or aspatial Rx parameter. In one configuration, the reference signal is oneof SRS, or a DL RS. In some aspects, the DL RS is one of CSI-RS, DM-RSfor at least one of a PDSCH or PDCCH, or a SS/PBCH block.

At 810, the base station demodulates the UL transmission. For example,810 may be performed by demodulation component 948 of apparatus 902. Thebase station may demodulate the UL transmission based on the one or moreTCI states. For example, as described with reference to FIGS. 4 and 5,the BS 404 at 412 may demodulate the UL transmission 410 received fromthe UE 402 based on the one or more TCI states of the subset ofactivated TCI states.

FIG. 9 is a diagram 900 illustrating an example of a hardwareimplementation for an apparatus 902. The apparatus 902 is a BS andincludes a baseband unit 904. The baseband unit 904 may communicatethrough a cellular RF transceiver 922 with the UE 104. The baseband unit904 may include a computer-readable medium/memory. The baseband unit 904is responsible for general processing, including the execution ofsoftware stored on the computer-readable medium/memory. The software,when executed by the baseband unit 904, causes the baseband unit 904 toperform the various functions described supra. The computer-readablemedium/memory may also be used for storing data that is manipulated bythe baseband unit 904 when executing software. The baseband unit 904further includes a reception component 930, a communication manager 932,and a transmission component 934. The communication manager 932 includesthe one or more illustrated components. The components within thecommunication manager 932 may be stored in the computer-readablemedium/memory and/or configured as hardware within the baseband unit904. The baseband unit 904 may be a component of the BS 310 and mayinclude the memory 376 and/or at least one of the TX processor 316, theRX processor 370, and the controller/processor 375.

The communication manager 932 includes a configuration component 940that transmits to a UE, an activation configuration activating a subsetof configured UL-TCI states, e.g., as described in connection with 802of FIG. 8. The communication manager 932 further includes a schedulecomponent 942 that transmits, to the UE, DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an ULtransmission with one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states,e.g., as described in connection with 804 of FIG. 8. The communicationmanager 932 further includes a map component 944 that transmits amapping between activated TCI states and a set of codepoint values,e.g., as described in connection with 806 of FIG. 8. The communicationmanager 932 further includes an uplink component 946 that receives theUL transmission from the UE, e.g., as described in connection with 808of FIG. 8. The communication manager 932 further includes a demodulationcomponent 948 that demodulates the UL transmission, e.g., as describedin connection with 810 of FIG. 8.

The apparatus may include additional components that perform each of theblocks of the algorithm in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 8. Assuch, each block in the aforementioned flowchart of FIG. 8 may beperformed by a component and the apparatus may include one or more ofthose components. The components may be one or more hardware componentsspecifically configured to carry out the stated processes/algorithm,implemented by a processor configured to perform the statedprocesses/algorithm, stored within a computer-readable medium forimplementation by a processor, or some combination thereof.

In one configuration, the apparatus 902, and in particular the basebandunit 904, includes means for transmitting, to a UE, a configuration ofUL-TCI states and an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCI states.The apparatus includes means for transmitting, to the UE, DCI in a PDCCHscheduling an UL transmission with one or more TCI states of activatedTCI states, the DCI scheduling an UL transmission. The apparatusincludes means for receiving the UL transmission from the UE, the ULtransmission based on the one or more TCI states. The apparatus includesmeans for demodulating the UL transmission based on the one or more TCIstates. The apparatus further includes means for transmitting a mappingbetween activated TCI states and a set of codepoint values, the one ormore codepoint values being within the set of codepoint values. Theaforementioned means may be one or more of the aforementioned componentsof the apparatus 902 configured to perform the functions recited by theaforementioned means. As described supra, the apparatus 902 may includethe TX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and the controller/processor375. As such, in one configuration, the aforementioned means may be theTX Processor 316, the RX Processor 370, and the controller/processor 375configured to perform the functions recited by the aforementioned means.

It is understood that the specific order or hierarchy of blocks in theprocesses/flowcharts disclosed is an illustration of example approaches.Based upon design preferences, it is understood that the specific orderor hierarchy of blocks in the processes/flowcharts may be rearranged.Further, some blocks may be combined or omitted. The accompanying methodclaims present elements of the various blocks in a sample order, and arenot meant to be limited to the specific order or hierarchy presented.

The following examples are illustrative only and may be combined withaspects of other embodiments or teachings described herein, withoutlimitation.

Aspect 1 is a method of wireless communication at a UE comprisingreceiving a configuration of UL-TCI states and an activation of a subsetof configured UL-TCI states; receiving DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an ULtransmission with one or more TCI states of activated TCI states; andtransmitting the UL transmission based on the one or more TCI states.

In Aspect 2, the method of Aspect 1 further includes that the ULtransmission is at least one of SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or a PRACH.

In Aspect 3, the method of Aspect 1 or 2 further includes that theconfiguration of UL-TCI states and the activation are received throughan RRC signal and a MAC-CE, respectively.

In Aspect 4, the method of any of Aspects 1-3 further includes thattransmitting the UL transmission comprises transmitting the ULtransmission with a QCL property similar as a reference signalassociated with the one or more TCI states.

In Aspect 5, the method of any of Aspects 1-4 further includes that thereference signal is further associated with a panel ID of the UE.

In Aspect 6, the method of any of Aspects 1-5 further includes that theQCL property comprises at least one of a one or more port indications, aDoppler shift, a Doppler spread, an average delay, a delay spread, aspatial Tx parameter, or a spatial Rx parameter.

In Aspect 7, the method of any of Aspects 1-6 further includes that thereference signal is one of SRS, or a DL RS.

In Aspect 8, the method of any of Aspects 1-7 further includes that theDL RS is one of CSI-RS, DM-RS for at least one of a PDSCH or a PDCCH, ora SS/PBCH block.

In Aspect 9, the method of any of Aspects 1-8 further includes that theDCI include s one or more codepoint values indicating the one or moreTCI states of the activated TCI states.

In Aspect 10, the method of any of Aspects 1-9 further includesreceiving a mapping between activated TCI states and a set of codepointvalues, the one or more codepoint values being within the set ofcodepoint values.

Aspect 11 is a device including one or more processors and one or morememories in electronic communication with the one or more processorsstoring instructions executable by the one or more processors to causethe system or apparatus to implement a method as in any of Aspects 1-10.

Aspect 12 is a system or apparatus including means for implementing amethod or realizing an apparatus as in any of Aspects 1-10.

Aspect 13 is a non-transitory computer readable medium storinginstructions executable by one or more processors to cause the one ormore processors to implement a method as in any of Aspects 1-10.

Aspect 14 is a method of wireless communication at a base stationcomprising transmitting, to a UE, a configuration of UL-TCI states andan activation of a subset of configured UL-TCI states; transmitting, tothe UE, DCI in a PDCCH scheduling an UL transmission with one or moreTCI states of activated TCI states, the DCI scheduling an ULtransmission; receiving the UL transmission from the UE, the ULtransmission based on the one or more TCI states; and demodulating theUL transmission based on the one or more TCI states.

In Aspect 15, the method of Aspect 14 further includes that the ULtransmission is at least one of SRS, a PUCCH, a PUSCH, or a PRACH.

In Aspect 16, the method of Aspect 14 or 15 further includes that theconfiguration of UL-TCI states and the activation are received throughan RRC signal and a MAC-CE, respectively.

In Aspect 17, the method of any of Aspects 14-16 further includes thatthe UL transmission is associated with a QCL property similar as areference signal associated with the one or more TCI states.

In Aspect 18, the method of any of Aspects 14-17 further includes thatthe reference signal is further associated with a panel ID of the UE.

In Aspect 19, the method of any of Aspects 14-18 further includes thatthe QCL property comprises at least one of a one or more portindications, a Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, an average delay, adelay spread, a spatial Tx parameter, or a spatial Rx parameter.

In Aspect 20, the method of any of Aspects 14-19 further includes thatthe reference signal is one of SRS, or a DL RS.

In Aspect 21, the method of any of Aspects 14-20 further includes thatthe DL RS is one of CSI-RS, DM-RS for at least one of a PDSCH or aPDCCH, or a SS/PBCH block.

In Aspect 22, the method of any of Aspects 14-21 further includes thatthe DCI includes one or more codepoint values indicating the one or moreTCI states of the activated TCI states

In Aspect 23, the method of any of Aspects 14-22 further includestransmitting a mapping between activated TCI states and a set ofcodepoint values, the one or more codepoint values being within the setof codepoint values.

Aspect 24 is a device including one or more processors and one or morememories in electronic communication with the one or more processorsstoring instructions executable by the one or more processors to causethe system or apparatus to implement a method as in any of Aspects14-23.

Aspect 25 is a system or apparatus including means for implementing amethod or realizing an apparatus as in any of Aspects 14-23.

Aspect 26 is a non-transitory computer readable medium storinginstructions executable by one or more processors to cause the one ormore processors to implement a method as in any of Aspects 14-23.

The previous description is provided to enable any person skilled in theart to practice the various aspects described herein. Variousmodifications to these aspects will be readily apparent to those skilledin the art, and the generic principles defined herein may be applied toother aspects. Thus, the claims are not intended to be limited to theaspects shown herein, but is to be accorded the full scope consistentwith the language claims, wherein reference to an element in thesingular is not intended to mean “one and only one” unless specificallyso stated, but rather “one or more.” Terms such as “if,” “when,” and“while” should be interpreted to mean “under the condition that” ratherthan imply an immediate temporal relationship or reaction. That is,these phrases, e.g., “when,” do not imply an immediate action inresponse to or during the occurrence of an action, but simply imply thatif a condition is met then an action will occur, but without requiring aspecific or immediate time constraint for the action to occur. The word“exemplary” is used herein to mean “serving as an example, instance, orillustration.” Any aspect described herein as “exemplary” is notnecessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over otheraspects. Unless specifically stated otherwise, the term “some” refers toone or more. Combinations such as “at least one of A, B, or C,” “one ormore of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B, and C,” “one or more of A,B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combination thereof” include anycombination of A, B, and/or C, and may include multiples of A, multiplesof B, or multiples of C. Specifically, combinations such as “at leastone of A, B, or C,” “one or more of A, B, or C,” “at least one of A, B,and C,” “one or more of A, B, and C,” and “A, B, C, or any combinationthereof” may be A only, B only, C only, A and B, A and C, B and C, or Aand B and C, where any such combinations may contain one or more memberor members of A, B, or C. All structural and functional equivalents tothe elements of the various aspects described throughout this disclosurethat are known or later come to be known to those of ordinary skill inthe art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intendedto be encompassed by the claims. Moreover, nothing disclosed herein isintended to be dedicated to the public regardless of whether suchdisclosure is explicitly recited in the claims. The words “module,”“mechanism,” “element,” “device,” and the like may not be a substitutefor the word “means.” As such, no claim element is to be construed as ameans plus function unless the element is expressly recited using thephrase “means for.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of wireless communication at a userequipment (UE), comprising: receiving a configuration of uplink (UL)transmission configuration indicator (TCI) (UL-TCI) states and anactivation of a subset of configured UL-TCI states; receiving downlinkcontrol information (DCI) in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH)scheduling an UL transmission with one or more TCI states of activatedTCI states; and transmitting the UL transmission based on the one ormore TCI states.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein the UL transmissionis at least one of sounding reference signals (SRS), a physical uplinkcontrol channel (PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or aphysical random access channel (PRACH).
 3. The method of claim 1,wherein the configuration of UL-TCI states and the activation arereceived through a radio resource control (RRC) signal and a mediumaccess control (MAC) control element (CE) (MAC-CE), respectively.
 4. Themethod of claim 1, wherein transmitting the UL transmission comprisestransmitting the UL transmission with a quasi-co location (QCL) propertysimilar as a reference signal associated with the one or more TCIstates.
 5. The method of claim 4, wherein the reference signal isfurther associated with a panel identifier (ID) of the UE.
 6. The methodof claim 4, wherein the QCL property comprises at least one of a one ormore port indications, a Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, an averagedelay, a delay spread, a spatial transmit (Tx) parameter, or a spatialreceive (Rx) parameter.
 7. The method of claim 4, wherein the referencesignal is one of sounding reference signals (SRS), or a downlink (DL)reference signal (RS).
 8. The method of claim 7, wherein the DL RS isone of channel state information (CSI) RS (CSI-RS), demodulation RS(DM-RS) for at least one of a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH)or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or a synchronizationsignal/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) (SS/PBCH) block.
 9. The methodof claim 1, wherein the DCI includes one or more codepoint valuesindicating the one or more TCI states of the activated TCI states. 10.The method of claim 9, further comprising: receiving a mapping betweenactivated TCI states and a set of codepoint values, the one or morecodepoint values being within the set of codepoint values.
 11. Anapparatus for wireless communication at a user equipment (UE),comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to the memoryand configured to: receive a configuration of uplink (UL) transmissionconfiguration indicator (TCI) (UL-TCI) states and an activation of asubset of configured UL-TCI states; receive downlink control information(DCI) in a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH) scheduling an ULtransmission with one or more TCI states of activated TCI states; andtransmit the UL transmission based on the one or more TCI states. 12.The apparatus of claim 11, wherein the UL transmission is at least oneof sounding reference signals (SRS), a physical uplink control channel(PUCCH), a physical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical randomaccess channel (PRACH).
 13. The apparatus of claim 11, wherein theconfiguration of UL-TCI states and the activation are received through aradio resource control (RRC) signal and a medium access control (MAC)control element (CE) (MAC-CE), respectively.
 14. The apparatus of claim11, wherein the at least one processor is configured to: transmit the ULtransmission with a quasi-co location (QCL) property similar as areference signal associated with the one or more TCI states.
 15. Theapparatus of claim 14, wherein the QCL property comprises at least oneof a one or more port indications, a Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, anaverage delay, a delay spread, a spatial transmit (Tx) parameter, or aspatial receive (Rx) parameter.
 16. The apparatus of claim 11, whereinthe DCI includes one or more codepoint values indicating the one or moreTCI states of the activated TCI states.
 17. The apparatus of claim 16,wherein the at least one processor is further configured to: receive amapping between activated TCI states and a set of codepoint values, theone or more codepoint values being within the set of codepoint values.18. A method of wireless communication at a base station (B S),comprising: transmitting, to a user equipment (UE), a configuration ofuplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI) (UL-TCI) statesand an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCI states; transmitting,to the UE, downlink control information (DCI) in a physical downlinkcontrol channel (PDCCH) scheduling an UL transmission with one or moreTCI states of activated TCI states, the DCI scheduling an ULtransmission; receiving the UL transmission from the UE, the ULtransmission based on the one or more TCI states; and demodulating theUL transmission based on the one or more TCI states.
 19. The method ofclaim 18, wherein the UL transmission is at least one of soundingreference signals (SRS), a physical uplink control channel (PUCCH), aphysical uplink shared channel (PUSCH), or a physical random accesschannel (PRACH).
 20. The method of claim 18, wherein the configurationof UL-TCI states and the activation are received through a radioresource control (RRC) signal and a medium access control (MAC) controlelement (CE) (MAC-CE), respectively.
 21. The method of claim 18, whereinthe UL transmission is associated with a quasi-co location (QCL)property similar as a reference signal associated with the one or moreTCI states.
 22. The method of claim 21, wherein the reference signal isfurther associated with a panel identifier (ID) of the UE.
 23. Themethod of claim 21, wherein the QCL property comprises at least one of aone or more port indications, a Doppler shift, a Doppler spread, anaverage delay, a delay spread, a spatial transmit (Tx) parameter, or aspatial receive (Rx) parameter.
 24. The method of claim 21, wherein thereference signal is one of sounding reference signals (SRS), or adownlink (DL) reference signal (RS).
 25. The method of claim 24, whereinthe DL RS is one of channel state information (CSI) RS (CSI-RS),demodulation RS (DM-RS) for at least one of a physical downlink sharedchannel (PDSCH) or a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), or asynchronization signal/physical broadcast channel (PBCH) (SS/PBCH)block.
 26. The method of claim 18, wherein the DCI includes one or morecodepoint values indicating the one or more TCI states of the activatedTCI states.
 27. The method of claim 26, further comprising: transmittinga mapping between activated TCI states and a set of codepoint values,the one or more codepoint values being within the set of codepointvalues.
 28. An apparatus for wireless communication at a base station(BS), comprising: a memory; and at least one processor coupled to thememory and configured to: transmit, to a user equipment (UE), aconfiguration of uplink (UL) transmission configuration indicator (TCI)(UL-TCI) states and an activation of a subset of configured UL-TCIstates; transmit, to the UE, downlink control information (DCI) in aphysical downlink control channel (PDCCH) scheduling an UL transmissionwith one or more TCI states of activated TCI states, the DCI schedulingan UL transmission; receive the UL transmission from the UE, the ULtransmission being based on the one or more TCI states; and demodulatethe UL transmission based on the one or more TCI states.
 29. Theapparatus of claim 28, wherein the DCI includes one or more codepointvalues indicating the one or more TCI states of the activated TCIstates.
 30. The apparatus of claim 29, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to: transmit a mapping between theactivated TCI states and a set of codepoint values, the one or morecodepoint values being within the set of codepoint values.